The Parisian Heist
A Novel
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4.2 • 5 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
From the bestselling author of The Sicilian Inheritance and Everyone Is Lying to You comes a propulsive dual-timeline mystery drenched in art-world intrigue and brimming with family secrets, betrayal, and the intoxicating lure of power.
Emma, a struggling American artist in Paris, thought she had left her dreams behind when she took a job cleaning for the city’s wealthy elite. Then she meets Stella Swanson, the widow of one of the most notorious art dealers in the business. The Swansons move in a world where billionaires, oligarchs, and heads of state pay fortunes for masterpieces. Drawn in by their dazzling wealth and the pull of a dangerously charming grandson, Emma becomes both a player and a pawn in a family battle to protect their empire and conceal its crimes.
In the late 1800s, the young widow Jo van Gogh inherits hundreds of paintings from her brother-in-law Vincent that the art world deems worthless. Determined to prove their genius, and to secure a future for herself and her young son, she becomes consumed by Vincent’s legacy. As her devotion deepens, a vanished painting and a thwarted love affair leave her unsure who she can trust and how much of herself she’s willing to lose in the process.
From glittering auction houses to the idyllic canals of Amsterdam and the grand museums of Paris, the lives of these two women converge as Emma uncovers the Swanson family’s darkest secrets and agrees to mastermind a daring heist inside the Musée d’Orsay. The stakes have never been higher, and these women refuse to be written out of history, no matter the cost.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Two women separated by a century grapple with their family's artistic legacies in this suspenseful outing from Piazza (Everyone Is Lying to You). In the 1990s, American art student Emma comes to Paris hoping to learn from the city's "most exciting instructors." When she burns through her savings and her scholarship is canceled, she's reduced to cleaning for wealthy Parisians, including Stella Swanson, a "disgustingly rich" old woman whose late husband managed a $10 billion art empire. Stella comes to trust Emma enough to share a secret about the Swansons that would stun the art world—and, eventually, to help Emma execute a plan to steal paintings from the Musée d'Orsay and prove they're fakes, thus exposing the Swansons' decades of shady dealings. Another narrative thread takes place in 1891, following a woman named Claire who attempts, for unclear reasons, to ingratiate herself with the late Vincent van Gogh's sister-in-law, Jo, as Jo wonders what to do with the apparently worthless paintings Vincent left to her. Potent questions about artistic integrity and family ties ripple through Piazza's dual narratives, and she shrewdly keeps readers guessing about how, exactly, they'll intersect. The result is a satisfying caper with brains and heart.
